Grasshopper (food)
In certain countries, grasshoppers are eaten as a good source of Wikipedia:protein. In southern Wikipedia:Mexico for example, Wikipedia:chapulines are regarded for their high content of protein, minerals and vitamins. They are usually collected at dusk, using lamps or electric lighting, in sweep nets. Sometimes they are placed in water for 24 hours, after which they can be boiled or eaten raw, sun-dried, fried, flavoured with spices, such as garlic, onions, chile, drenched in lime, and used in soup or as a filling for various dishes. They are abundant in Central and Southern Mexican food and street markets. They are served on skewers in some Chinese food markets, like the Wikipedia:Donghuamen Night Market.Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern aired on the Wikipedia:Travel Channel 27 April 2008. In some countries in Africa, grasshoppers are an important food source, as are other insects, adding proteins and fats to the daily diet, especially in times of food crisis. They are often used in soup. The "grasshoppers" eaten in Wikipedia:Uganda and neighbouring areas are called Wikipedia:nsenene, but they are in fact bush crickets, also called Wikipedia:katydids. In some countries in the Middle East, grasshoppers are boiled in hot water with salt, left in the sun to dry then eaten as snacks. Many insects eat grasshoppers including many types of ants, like those in the genus Wikipedia:Crematogaster. Uganda Grasshoppers are one of the seasonal delicacies consumed by people in Wikipedia:Nyamanga community Wikipedia:Kyenjojo district. These insects come each year in the months of November and December. In the 1990s youth would prepare for and patiently await this season. The grasshoppers are picked from the major hills and the Nyamanga community were Ruzira, Kaburaisoke, Kyangabukama which were all in another village of Kihuura. The nearby short hills where the insects would stray to when they were many in number were Nyamanga and Kyabukama.The youth mostly aged between the ages of 12-30 were the ones who were engaged in this activity. It was indeed fun as people woke up in the night at around 3:00 am to start walking towards the hills where the grasshoppers are to be collected that is if they had fallen. The bigger youth mostly those aged between 20-30 could use this time to meet their opposite sex and have a chance to establish connections as a big group of youth walked the distance of about five kilometers:: ::The practice of grasshoppers collection was highly treasured and much as the older women would not set off at the same time like the youth, they joined them early in the morning. On a lucky day when the grasshoppers had fallen, those who wake up very early and climbed the hills would alert those who are still on the way even when they are about a kilometer away from the base of the hill. This was also the case when they had not fallen:: There were several benefits of this exercise among them include keeping fit especially when the grasshoppers had fallen, waking up early, establishment of friends as well as socializing and unity promotion. Three years in savage Africa (1898) https://archive.org/details/threeyearsinsava00decl Library of Congress External links Category:Ugandan culture Category:Kyenjojo District Category:Grasshoppers Category:Herbivorous animals Category:Insects as food Category:Mexican cuisine Category:Ugandan cuisine Category:African cuisine